ROB Austin has hailed the new Handy Motorsport Toyota Avensis as ‘immaculate’ following two days of testing at Oulton Park.

With the new British Touring Car Championships starting in April, the Swindon-based team headed to Cheshire for the start of some rigorous testing, with Austin, who is in his second season with Handy, delighted with how the car performed.

“The two days at Oulton went very well,” said Austin. "The boys have made a beautiful job of building the car, it's ahead of schedule and absolutely immaculate, as you would expect from the Handy Motorsport team.

“The weather hindered our track time a little, but we anticipated that by booking two days rather than just one.

“Out of the box, the car was much more hooked up than when we raced here last year and that served as a great example of the progress we made through the second half of 2016.”

As well as marking the maiden run-out for Handy’s new car, the test was also the first opportunity for Austin and the squad to experience the new Dunlop tyres.

“It’s a really nice tyre. Full credit to Dunlop for all of their hard work developing it,” the driver added. “We completed a good number of laps, worked through our carefully planned programme and we certainly left Oulton with the feeling we have continued on the steep development curve we were on through the second half of the 2016 season.

“It’s got me very excited for the start of the season. The car feels strong and well balanced and I’m feeling very confident about going up against the rest of the field.

“Brands (Hatch, where the season begins at the start of April) can’t come soon enough. Before then, we have a comprehensive test schedule and a lot of developments to continue working on.”